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Donald Trump rarely accepts advice, particularly from international figures who often attempt to praise and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has followed a distinct strategy by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also received support from Trump allies, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Experts note that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is employing comparable authoritarian tactics employed by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's online call recently was one more in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a spring assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to stop removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made amid social media criticism on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued injunctions blocking Trump from mobilizing the national guard, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to send soldiers into the city, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office recently, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a heightened atmosphere of threats and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on data collected by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to 395 federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's high of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

Experts say that the intimidation are a result of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, including by Bukele.

In 2021, right after commencing a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and five judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees selected by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the models set by strongmen abroad.

“The administration is observing at these successes and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would weaken the courts,” she said.

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s relentless claims of broad executive power, she added: “They directly attack the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

“All understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

On the government's aims, Scheppele said that “removing a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently